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Vacuum Line Nightmare


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#1 Miniman118

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Posted 19 May 2020 - 12:41 PM

Hi all,

Doing my vacuum lines 2 down absolute doddle but the red one under the manifold near the bulkhead has now snapped and part of it sitting attached around the neck of the nipple

Any tips oh how to get this thing off I can only feel it and not see it can’t even get a knife in there to pry it off ??

#2 Miniman118

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Posted 19 May 2020 - 03:03 PM

Right so I ripped away the rotted foam and pulled the wiring harness out of the way up over the bracket

Since I’m replacing with silicon I could bend it to get it over the nipple so I improvised som old hard line plus old elbows

And yes I know it’s a bodge but needed to get it all back together today to test something else on the car ...so no doubt I’ll be back there again as the elbows will no doubt break

#3 Bobbins

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Posted 22 May 2020 - 11:25 AM

The red one is an absolute b****** to do!



#4 Miniman118

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Posted 25 May 2020 - 09:43 PM

Tell me
About it what a complete pain in the arse - theres pretty much no room to work in there and trying to work with 3mm silicone piping made it even more difficult

I managed it but with bits of hard line and old elbows to bodge it together

#5 mina08

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Posted 26 May 2020 - 07:22 AM

I would avoid the hard line and elbows and just go 100% silicone



#6 brivinci

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Posted 27 May 2020 - 05:34 PM

You can make your life easier by removing the manifold. Not remove completely but remove the 4 nuts that hold the intake to head, and then you can lift the manifold up a bit to gain access.

 

A lot of issues with these cars are down to those pesky vac lines. The only way to ensure that you will not have any of these issues (for the most part. Nothing is perfect) is to go full 3mm walled silicone. You NEED to get rid of the hard lines and the elbows. Both are terribly unreliable. 



#7 Miniman118

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Posted 05 June 2020 - 12:48 PM

Yh I agree but I had literally no movement in there so I had to bodge together to prove the car would atleast idle now

Which it does but now I’ve got a cutting out issue along with hot starting issues which I doubt is linked to that but perhaps it is

#8 humph

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Posted 05 June 2020 - 12:53 PM

Hmm sounds like when I had issues with the O2 sensor, or more specifically a break in the wire to the O2 sensor. This manifested itself for me after I'd been fiddling changing the vac lines. There are a number of locations where the engine bay loom rubs the bulkhead/throttle body which eventually lead to breaks. It could be this, have you got a code reader to see what the O2 sensor is doing?  Have you got a voltmeter to check that the O2 sensor is getting a supply?

 

Note; when mine did this it was running rich and cutting out when stationary.  I don't remember it being too hard to start once hot.


Edited by humph, 05 June 2020 - 01:01 PM.


#9 FlyingScot

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Posted 05 June 2020 - 05:10 PM

The joys of the SPi.... I still prefer the original hard lines and once properly fitted they last in my experience 5 years plus. Having thumbnails help with removing the remains of the elbow from the manifold nipple and also lubricating the new ones to get them back on.

 

Many interesting problems I am seeing now with these are down to the cracked wiring especially anything that's close to the rear bulkhead as Humph has indicated above. I find that the prolonged exposure to heat not just mechanical rubbing is breaking the wiring internally on some parts of the loom.

 

Other things to check include low battery voltage (cars are often only used once in a while) and poor earthing of the major points plus around the ECU itself.

 

I had personal experience of cutting out and hot start issues on a 1996 Spi which turned out to be the coil - its was on its way out and gave a intermittent fault when cold and much worse when the car was hot.

 

Dont forget the basics with these. The above was found after several checks and starting from scratch i.e. do we have fuel? do we have a spark? 

 

A code reader or software to check the readings and components is pretty much a must as there are no dealers or knowledgeable garages to fall back on for most of us.

 

FS



#10 humph

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Posted 06 June 2020 - 08:45 AM

A code reader or software to check the readings and components is pretty much a must as there are no dealers or knowledgeable garages to fall back on for most of us.

 

FS

 

The great thing now is that you don't have to go out and spend hundreds on a Sykes Pickavant or similar as you can pick up the leads on auction sites for about £30. The software for your laptop is free. I've got no connection to this seller by the way, but I do have one of his leads which works well.

 

https://www.ebay.co....u0AAOSwn~JdoHGK

 

I believe you can  get them to run from an android phone.


Edited by humph, 06 June 2020 - 08:47 AM.


#11 Pee

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Posted 07 June 2020 - 08:52 AM

 

A code reader or software to check the readings and components is pretty much a must as there are no dealers or knowledgeable garages to fall back on for most of us.

 

FS

 

The great thing now is that you don't have to go out and spend hundreds on a Sykes Pickavant or similar as you can pick up the leads on auction sites for about £30. The software for your laptop is free. I've got no connection to this seller by the way, but I do have one of his leads which works well.

 

https://www.ebay.co....u0AAOSwn~JdoHGK

 

I believe you can  get them to run from an android phone.

 

Edit - Purchased. Something to play with!

 

 

 

 

Very tempted to give one of these ago, thanks for the link.


Edited by Pee, 07 June 2020 - 09:41 AM.


#12 Miniman118

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Posted 13 June 2020 - 07:45 PM

So the hot start issue and cutting out is persisting for now - haven’t had a chance to change the coolant temp sensor yet as I need to get the car up on a set of ramps.

Looked at taking the manifold out and I’d really rather not so I’ll have to go in from underneath - what the likely hood of it being the coolant temp sensor ?

Low battery voltage is also a possibility as the battery in starting it with is very nearly bed and does fully fit in the tray as it’s from another car

One thing I didn’t change when upgrading the ignition system as part of the service was the coil so maybe that was an oversight on my part and a must to do next

I’ll have to go down the route of grabbing one of those cords as suspected

#13 Miniman118

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Posted 13 June 2020 - 07:47 PM

One of those Mems cords seems like a must to be honest so will grab one soon




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